Instrumentation Engineer
Salary

Median pay for Instrumentation Engineers in the United States is around $76K annually. Including potential for bonuses and profit sharing — peaking near $10K and $10K, respectively — total cash payment to Instrumentation Engineers can bottom out near $54K or peak near $120K depending on individual performance. Experience level is the biggest factor affecting pay for this group, followed by geography. Most Instrumentation Engineers report high levels of job satisfaction. The vast majority of Instrumentation Engineers (87 percent) survey respondents are men. Medical benefits are awarded to most, and a strong majority earn dental coverage. The data for this synopsis comes from respondents who took the PayScale salary survey.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Find Out Exactly What You Should Be Paid

Job Description for Instrumentation Engineer

An instrumentation engineer is someone who does the designing, monitoring, controlling and construction of various instruments used in industrial functions. This person is typically responsible for system efficiency as measured by the instruments they build or design. Instrumentation engineers are often in the leadership role and may assign jobs to drafters and other engineers on a lower level.

This type of job is normally thought of as being at the senior level, requiring an engineering degree and specialization in the area which includes the use of CAD tools and, in all likelihood, design of graphs. At times, instrumentation engineers will be required to make cost estimates and present their plans to their company or directly to interested clients.

Because the use of an instrumentation engineer is somewhat need-based, the work may follow an irregular schedule, which may include some weekends. Beyond the irregular schedule, a person in this position must have excellent computer skills, be rational and logical, be able to easily communicate his or her ideas and plans and have very good vision.

A person who works as an instrumentation engineer often needs to be able to work independently and use his or her own judgment. Instrumentation engineers will also need to keep abreast of current advances and uses of various types of instruments that their clients may need, as well as the types of materials that may make a process more efficient or less costly. The use and understanding of wiring diagrams is often required, along with the use of a wide variety of calculations, so anyone interested in an instrumentation engineer position should be particularly savvy with numbers.

Electrical Engineer Job Listings

Search for more jobs:

Job Title/Company

Location

This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Instrumentation Engineers note just a narrow range of job skills. Programmable Logic Controllers / Automation and Instrument Control are considered valuable skills and can increase employee pay by 12 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Skills that are correlated to lower pay, on the other hand, include Technical Specification. Instrument Control and Programmable Logic Controllers / Automation are correlating skills — those who know the former usually know the latter.

Pay by Experience Level for Instrumentation Engineer

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

Instrumentation Engineers with a rich background of experience are typically rewarded with larger paychecks. Average salaries for inexperienced employees average out to around $71K, but folks who have five to 10 years of experience earn a higher median of $82K. On average, Instrumentation Engineers make $93K following one to two decades on the job. Professionals who boast more than 20 years of experience reap the fruits of their labor to the six-figure tune of $109K — the plum median salary in this group.